Don't Mine Me!

 Imagine the setting. You and your family go out into a nice field in a remote location to have a picnic. Little Suzy is running around and playing and wanders off. A few moments later, and BOOM! Your life is changed forever because you unwittingly had your family outing on the edge of a minefield. Granted, in the United States, this is creative writing, but for some people in the world this is a deadly reality.

The use of hidden weapons, or traps, is not new. Caltrops (like jacks with sharp points instead of rounded ends) of bone have been dated back as far as 500 BC. Devices that used gunpowder were devised in various incarnations after the 14th century for compromising castle walls. Brigadier Gabriel J. Rains, commander of an outnumbered Confederate army of 2,500 men, is credited with the early use of a mine-like device by his use of buried artillery shells mounted with a contact fuse pointing up. These were incredibly efficient and allowed the smaller contingency of men to flee from the massive Union army that was thrown into disarray by the deployment of these explosives.

Later, during the World War I, tanks were used to overcome trenches and barbed wire, and anti-tank mines were deployed as a deterrent. These anti-tank mines were effective, but they suffered because they could easily be moved by infantry and re-positioned against the forces of the people who had originally placed them. This led to the development of the anti-personnel mine. These were deployed around the vicinity of the anti-tank mines. Before the World War II, the use and development of anti-personnel mines was popular with military powers. They were typically used in a controlled and specifically targeted manner.

During WW II there was a heavy proliferation of landmines of various types and sizes. Having learned from WW I, more attention was paid to the use of mine and countermine-warfare. Many mines appeared in Africa, especially in Egypt, where a large number were placed during the campaign of Field Marshall Rommel and earlier during fighting between British and Italian forces on the Egyptian-Libyan border. Mines and minefields were used as obstacles, but they also played a vital role in defense against tanks. Anti-personnel mines were again used to deter infantry or engineers from interfering with placement of anti-tank mines and to hinder the removal of a minefield as an obstacle. The use of mines varied from purely defensive to partly offensive roles, such as protecting exposed flanks. There were strict rules for siting, marking and recording minefields so that they wouldn't be a threat to friendly units and to make it possible for them to be retrieved for re-deployment. During this war, countermine operations became immensely important and several technologies, including electronic mine detectors, were used. Mines also saw heavy use by the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The Soviets viewed them as one of the most important elements of land combat. Defensively they would saturate a vacated area, including a city, with various types of mines. They incorporated mines, even radio-controlled ones for opening or blocking off lanes, with supporting fire. The Soviets were estimated to have used some 222-million mines during WW II, surpassing any modern nation in recent history. Of course, this left them with the monumental de-mining task after the war. By 1945, the Soviets claimed they had removed about 55-million mines from their cities and landscape.

The use of mines did continue as an obstacle into and through the Post-War and Cold War era and helped define the border between the West and the East during the accompanying troop build-ups. Mines were also deployed in Korea in the 1950s, albeit in an indiscriminate manner by all participants. To this day, however, mines are still used in Korea and are viewed as essential for United Nations' and Northern Korean People's Army defenses near the demilitarized zone.

The usage of landmines changed a bit in the early part of the 1960s. Mines saw usage in Vietnam, where they were used as tools of terror by the Viet Cong. They were also used in more traditional defensive and obstacle roles, although in some of these cases enemy forces appropriated large numbers of the mines. In the latter part of the '60s, the United States dropped thousands of mines (air-delivered, self-deactivating, scatterable mines) in Cambodia in an attempt to close the Ho Chi Minh Trail. More significant, though, is the subsequent random deployment of mines by the opposing factions during the civil war in Cambodia. Mines also saw heavy use in bloody anti-colonial campaigns in Africa and in two Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973. Interestingly, mines were not able to stop armored forces in either of the Israeli wars. There was also an increase in the use of non-metallic materials in mines during this time, making them more difficult to detect.

Scatterable mines changed the dynamic of the weapon by enhancing the defensive roles of mines. Mines could be deployed quickly either in front of retreating forces or in a defensive capacity as needed. They could be easily distributed by air, artillery or tank and often with factories, airfields and artillery positions as their targets. This increased mobility comes with the cost of less accountability for where they are, though. It has also made for smaller, more lethal and more dense minefields that are much more difficult to clear. "Smart" mines with electronic control, self-deactivation and self-destruct followed these scatterable mines. There is also a lot less metal, sometimes very small amounts, in these modern mines. Today, there are hundreds of different types of mines. Some of these pop up into the air and explode at about waist height. For a child, this is assures death.

Current estimates range from 70 to 110-million mines planted in the world affecting 70 countries. There are also between 5 and 10-million mines being produced each year, and about 100-million more in stockpiles. The list of countries producing landmines is extensive and runs from Austria to Yugoslavia. Casualty estimates from mine detonations are around 26,000 people per year (about one every 12 minutes). Anti-personnel mines are designed to injure or maim, not to kill, and can continue to perform their role for many years, even decades, after their placement. The effects of a mine blast are devastating on the human body and it is typically civilians who pay the price for the usage of mines in the past. Since 1975, over 1-million people have been killed or maimed by anti-personnel mines. Over 300,000 children are severely disabled due to landmines. Half of the people that detonate a landmine die before they are found or taken to a hospital.

Mines are bad news and there are a bunch of them, so what do we do? In December of 1997, 122 countries signed a Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, to totally stop the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines and to commence the destruction of existing ones. As of October 2001, this treaty has been signed by 142 countries and ratified by 122 of those. There are 51 countries that have not signed the treaty, including big countries like the United States, Russia and China. Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Israel are also notable abstainers considering the current political landscape. The only solution for mines already deployed is to clean them up or de-mine. This is a task that is pursued by various UN agencies, governments and private corporations. It is an extremely difficult task, not to mention dangerous, and can be very expensive. The irony of this situation is that the countries that require the de-mining are typically amongst the poorest nations, in part because of the effect that the mines have on the productivity and usability of their land and workers.

There have been some advances in the methods of clearing mines but the most effective is still painstaking, inch-by-inch probing by a human. Other methods such as sniffer dogs, armored bulldozers and sensing equipment are employed with some effectiveness, depending on terrain. The cost of clearing mines can reach as high as $1,000 U.S. dollars per mine and is, in many cases, prohibitive. Statistically, mines are being laid 25 times faster than they can be cleared. Put another way, for every hour spent laying mines it takes 100 to lift and disarm one. The main stumbling block to global mine clearance is perception. Mine accidents get little public attention because they rarely occur in developed nations.

The first step is obviously to stop putting these things into the ground. An alternative would be to only use devices that can be rendered inert by the placing forces, or at a minimum keep strict records on where they are placed so that they can be removed after the conflict. Involved parties are insistent that anti-personnel mines are a necessity in keeping North Korea and South Korea apart, so this isn't a problem that is going to be solved over night. Land mines kill innocent people and destroy the infrastructure of struggling countries. Displaced refugees returning to their homes can be in for quite a surprise when they try to work the land, a cost that is translated into reduced productivity and welfare for all. Countries that use these devices need to be held accountable for them and take responsibility for their removal once their need is eliminated. Many of the abstainers maintain that the anti-personnel landmine is an important part of their military arsenal. The validity of that position is questionable and should be closely reviewed and evaluated. Someday, hopefully soon, all people will be able to walk the land and live their lives safely without threat of remnants from an old war.

Piper